Operating a recently expanded 24/7 waterway, while maintaining safety standards and addressing new traffic challenges requires the use of reliable aids to navigation systems. These aids to navigation systems include maritime buoyage system, sector lights with oscillating boundaries, ranges, and a bank lighting system. The bank lights installation is similar to lights on an airport runway, these are present on the east and west sides of the banks at the narrowest parts of the navigation channel, at Culebra Cut and at the approaches to the locks. The associated distribution power lines were scaled in order to meet the needs of the Panama Canal expansion and the construction of nearly 9 kilometers of access channels to the new locks on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides.
The first Bank Lighting system on the Panama Canal was installed between 1959 and 1961, and consisted of cool white light fluorescent fixtures. Over the years, the fluorescent fixtures were replaced with amber light low pressure sodium fixtures (LPS). For the Panama Canal expansion the new Bank Lighting project considered a technology migration to LED fixtures, keeping the performance in color and light output of the existing with a higher life expectancy, and lower maintenance costs. Over 10 km of overhead power distribution lines and 6km of underground power distribution lines were built in order to illuminate the east and west banks of the new access channels.
This paper presents the planning, design and construction of the electrical infrastructures and lighting system needed for the new Panama Canal´s bank lighting.